This invention relates to wrenches, and more particularly to a gear-operated ratchet wrench capable of working in areas of greatly limited access.
Automobile mechanics commonly are required to tighten or remove a nut or bolt located in an area of limited access. Working space is often restricted in front-end work, or when working on automobile engines having space restrictions because of auxiliary equipment such as smog devices, air-conditioners, and the like. These problems are compounded when loosening a bolt, nut, tie-rod sleeve, or the like which is frozen in place.
A conventional ratchet wrench includes a socket for being releasably secured to a rotatable, ratchet-operated projection carried on the head of the wrench. The socket fits over the end of a bolt or nut to be tightened or loosened. In many instances, space restrictions prevent the mechanic from fitting such a ratchet wrench and socket over the end of the nut or bolt. In other instances, the conventional ratchet wrench may fit over the end of a nut or bolt, but there will not be sufficient room to back up the socket wrench as the nut or bolt is being loosened.
A common problem faced by the front-end mechanic is to rotate a tie-rod sleeve to adjust the length of the tie-rod which, in turn, controls the toe-in setting. Many tools do not allow the tie-rod sleeve to be rotated without removing at least a portion of the tie-rod. Other tools which can fit around the tie-rod sleeve apply pressure which tends to make it more difficult to rotate the sleeve.
The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a reversible ratchet wrench and socket which can be applied to a nut or bolt and remain in the same plane as the nut or bolt when they are being tightened or loosened. Therefore, the wrench requires a minimum of space and as a result, it can be used to loosen or tighten a nut or bolt in many situations where the conventional ratchet wrench and socket would be unable to do so. Further, the wrench of this invention provides a ratchet which can be reversed without having to remove the wrench from the nut or bolt, which minimizes the amount of time required to use the wrench in a given job.